This invention refers to a "director"-type folding chair structure, that is to say, a chair or armchair comprising a folding seat made up of pivoted elements to which a fabric is secured, which elements are hinged to side frames defining the supporting legs, the armrests and, respectively, upright elements supporting the backrest fabric.
In folding chairs of the aforementioned type, the elements of the folding seat, also referred to as articulated cross elements, besides being pivoted to each other and hinged to the supporting legs of the chair, in correspondence with their lower ends, are also connected, at the front and the back, to the side frames by means of short connecting rods or links designed to keep the supporting legs to the sides, whilst allowing the rotation of the cross elements of the seat, in order to fold up the chair itself. Usually, in folding chairs of the type in question, the pivoting and hinging between the parts which make up the chair itself are the weakest points and those subjected to greatest stress and are therefore the cause of possible breaking or faulty functioning of the chair; moreover, such chair structures are not sufficiently stable or stiffened, as the hinges tend to wear out and no longer allow a rigid connection between the seat and the lateral legs. The chair may therefore prove to be rather unsteady and in time may break and become totally unserviceable.
In folding chairs of the known type moreover, it occurs that, once assembled, the various parts are permanently connected together and the chair, or parts thereof, can no longer be diassembled. A scope of this invention is to provide a folding chair of the type previously described, which is capable of overcoming the above-mentioned problems and, in particular, concerns a chair provided with connecting means between the cross elements of the seat and the legs of the side frames, which are capable of giving the chair structure a high degree of rigidity or stiffening and stability, when open or folded down.
A further scope of this invention is to provide a folding chair, as described, provided with special snap-fastening means between the cross-elements of the seat and lateral legs, to allow the shipment of the chair in its fully disassembled condition, and its quick assembling, with the possibility of replacing the seat and/or backrest fabrics at any time without totally disassembling the chair.
A still further scope of this invention is to provide a folding chair structure, as described, which is highly simplified due to the elimination of connecting rods between the cross-elements of the seat and side frames, quick and easy to assemble and, finally, relatively inexpensive to manufacture.